


Lions of Light and Dark Clouds

by cuddlyharkness



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Eventual Romance, Hurt/Comfort, Kingdom Hearts I, Light Angst, M/M, Past Relationship(s)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-10-10
Updated: 2015-11-16
Packaged: 2018-04-25 19:08:11
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,098
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4972876
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cuddlyharkness/pseuds/cuddlyharkness
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i> Nestled somewhere in between the events of Kingdom Hearts </i>
</p><p> </p><p>Sometimes there are things that happen for a reason. There are things that tend to happen for none at all. Then there are things, that without warning, seem to play out perfectly in a sequence that fits too well together to be coincidence. Perhaps that would explain the feeling that wormed its way deep into his stomach when something, worlds away, had begun to happen.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Beginning

The first thing that registered as his body came to was searing pain. It burned like fire in his chest, an agonizing feeling deep inside himself that only got worse when he tried to move. His voice was lost to the void around him, unable to make a sound in his current state. His head hurt and his bones ached with a cold, rickety feeling he didn't understand. He had no idea what happened at first, his mind lost in both confusion and agony. 

The first thing to come back to him was his sense of smell. He could smell the warmth of the air, a heavy one that mingled with the rotten smell of drying blood. It wreaked of sweat, a soured scent that nestled deep into everything. It made him want to bury his head in his clothes, but he couldn't. There was a stabbing pain behind his eyes that felt like someone had stabbed a nail through them, itching at the front of his brain like a rabid animal. Then came the sense of taste. 

His mouth was sour, metallic and dull. His stomach did flips, bile rising in his throat as he coughed at the tang. He felt as if it would be a pleasant relief just to throw up, and yet his stomach refused him this luxury. It would probably hurt too much anyway, he thought pitifully. The hacking and gagging would surely send him reeling with the sheer agony of the contracting muscles within his stomach.

Everything was hazy. His memories were broken and in disarray to the point he couldn't remember what had happened that had left him hurting so badly. Some memories were gone entirely, but as his sense of touch returned, they stepped out from within the darkness. As the movie unfolded in his brain, he cringed at the thought of what he'd gone through, and how he'd fallen so easily. 

He was in Olympus Coliseum. That much was clear from the warm air and the hard stone beneath his back. The sun that was beating down on his face didn't help either. He'd been beaten, he knew that much. Sora had won, beaten him down and nearly blinded him with his light. Then Hades had tossed him to the side, laughing about how he'd believed his lies and slander. He'd been such a fool, trusting a deceptive false god from the realm of the Underworld. What had possessed him to think a being like Hades was worth his trust? For the promise of returning his memories? No, no that would have been impossible. But of course, he must have been far too naive to know that at the time. 

Suddenly the pain made sense. Sora had a heart of light, nothing but brilliant white to blind any and all his foes. No wonder he couldn't move. The young adventurer's light had all but killed him, leaving him on the ground in a beaten mess to suffer and wallow in whatever arms the Darkness offered him to crawl into. 

If it hadn't been for his position, cast away on the center stage floor, he probably wouldn't even be capable of rational thought. He'd be a husk, a Heartless wandering the shadows until his life was ended by the young man who had triumphed over him already. His mere existence would have been wiped away like dust, a useless, mindless creature to be nothing more than a plaything for those who controlled the Darkness themselves. 

Thankfully, this wasn't the case. But he'd fallen into the darkness so far that even the simple sunlight was making his body feel like he were burning alive. In the blast of light, his mind had been cracked and fractured, just like the various bones in his body. 

At one point during his struggle, he managed to roll onto his side and coughed, red liquid he couldn't see splattering the floor beside his head and seeping into the cracks between the stone. His vision was hazy, nothing more than smudges with the corners fading into blackness. He could see nothing, and yet he could hear as if his head were underwater. 

Faintly, he heard the frantic words of someone, and felt a hand shake his shoulder roughly as if they were afraid he were dead. Sadly not, he thought. Although that would have been so much easier...

He had neither the strength nor the voice to respond to someone calling his name, and could see only a smudge of varying colors through his cloudy vision. For a moment, the image of a man swam into view. A man with messy brown hair and a defining scar across the bridge of his nose was gathering him in his arms, frantic in his actions. He shouted something, glaring off at someone beyond his vision, and then it all went dark.


	2. Lion's Intuition

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When Leon suddenly gets a very bad feeling, he makes an attempt to locate the source.

He had no idea how he'd known. There was just a twisting feeling deep in his gut, urging him to move with haste to a destination he wasn't even sure of. Part of him thought he was just being strange, worrying over nothing. At least, until the feeling was given a reason when Cid came to find him.

"The Gummi Ship picked up a distress call, somewhere out by Olympus Colosseum." That was all it took, and he was off. The ship roared through the pathways previously mapped, its scanners beeping as it mapped out the way. Leon had flown as fast as safely possible, his single goal in mind. When the world came within view, he slowed the ship and landed. The SOS beacon was a blip, a fading light somewhere inside the Colosseum itself. Apparently, whoever had been in distress was either getting better or slowly getting weaker. 

Hurrying inside, Leon was confronted by a short, rather fat goat-like creature. It surely said something, likely protesting his barging in and storming through the entrance to the battle area, but he didn't care. He knew full and well that someone, whether he knew them or not, was in trouble. He didn't expect the scene that unfolded in front of him. 

Standing in the arena was a young boy with spiky hair and a giant key. Sora was radiating light, holding the Keyblade as if he were happy he'd won something. Hercules was nearby, congratulating him on his victory over Hades. His eyes, however, landed on the crumpled mess off to the side of the arena. The blonde hair triggered a memory of a young man, bright and youthful, with eyes as haunted as his past. The red liquid splattered across the stones, smudged across the corners of his mouth and the color missing from his face made Leon's heart stop. 

"Cloud!" He'd hurried over, shoving past the heroes in his haste. Hercules was thrown off by the sudden appearance, and to say Sora was shocked would be an understatement. Both of the heroes watched as the brunette ran to the blonde's side, his eyes wide and frantic as he lifted the man up as he began to rack with a series of harsh coughs. Blood dribbled down the front of his clothes, his hands curling over his abdomen as he made the most pitiful sound the other had ever heard. 

"Leon? You know him?" Sora questioned, watching as Leon carefully untied the scrap of dull red fabric that Cloud wore as some sort of ragged cape. Carefully, the brunette tucked it under the blonde's hands to stop what the young boy didn't know was a serious injury from bleeding. Gathering Cloud into his arms, he responded coldly. 

"I do. He's... he's my partner. And he's hurt." Leon's arms trembled as he wrapped Cloud up in them, standing slowly to carry him. He ignored the concerned pleas from Sora, walking out quickly as the young man ran after him. So many questions, all spilling from the boy's mouth in one of the worst cases of word vomit Leon had ever seen. 

"What's wrong? He's okay, right?" Sora asked worriedly, hurrying along after his older friend. Leon was quiet for a long while, waiting until they were safely on board the Gummi Ship to respond. As he sat Cloud down on one of the beds within the bunk area, he dug through a box for a potion and some bandages. 

"No. He's not, Sora... You've been doing this Keyblade thing for a while now, and it's about time you learned what that thing does to people who reside in the Darkness..." Leon murmured, propping Cloud's head up with a decent amount of pillows. Sending Sora off to grab him a wet rag and a small bucket of water, he set to work untangling the cape and exposing the blonde's various torso injuries. From the looks of it, based on the purple splotches and the bloody mess, Cloud had narrowly escaped the fate they Keyblade would have sealed otherwise. 

Sora brought him the rag, sitting the bucket down beside him and looking on in horror at the wounded man. Leon quietly set to work helping Cloud swallow the potion, waiting long enough for it to at least numb the pain that came with his injuries.

"Now, Sora... you know about the Light and the Darkness and all that kind of thing. You've learned that already," Leon stated as he set to work gently rinsing the drying mess off of pale, scarred skin. Sora nodded, watching as the blonde's brows furrowed with the discomfort of having his injuries messed with. "Cloud is a man who has found a home in the Darkness, when the Light had cast him out..." 

"So he's.... he's from the Darkness? Aren't all things from there bad?" The young man's ignorance almost made him smile. As he worked, he focused on making sure the blonde was being cared for properly, bandaging his wounds and carefully covering him with the soft blankets that every Gummi Ship was stocked with. Quietly, he gestured for Sora to return to the front of the ship. Before leaving the room himself, he gently carded his fingers through soft blonde hair. 

"Not all things from the Darkness are bad. The Darkness itself is bad, it's a thing that should be feared and loathed and eradicated. But for some, like Cloud, it offers a home when there's nowhere else to go. It welcomes outcasts with open arms, gives them something to inspire them. A purpose... For Cloud, the Darkness offered power. Something he's never had much of, if any.. It offered him a chance to find the people he's lost, the ones he cared the most for before his world was overtaken like the others. It took him in with open arms. However, when he let the Darkness in, his fate was sealed. Now, since he resides in the Dark, your light hurts him. Any light, really. Something as simple as the brightness of the Sun can cause him pain, and it won't improve until he can let the Darkness go. He's lucky he was far enough beneath the blast... otherwise, he'd be dead. Or, worse still, a Heartless. Wandering in the shadows, waiting for someone to stumble along..." Leon's voice, that once sounded so very strong to Sora, felt hollow in his throat. His eyes were focused on the controls in front of him, unwavering as if he were steeling himself again some kind of unpleasant fate. 

Sora watched quietly as Leon shut his eyes, gripping the lever in front of him as he stared straight ahead. He'd known this older man to be nothing but strong, never bothered by anything involving the Darkness and the Light. But, to Sora, it seemed that now he was fighting a battle inside his own mind. Obviously, Cloud must have been important to him. So why, then, would Leon have allowed things to progress this far? Certainly Cloud could have listened to reason? 

"I know what you're thinking, Sora. And trust me, I tried to talk him through it. Tried to help him... but he vanished one day, when we thought he was getting better... He just up and vanished, as if he had never been there at all. For a while, we hoped he would come back. And he would, once in a while. I'd see him around Traverse Town, lurking in the alleys and avoiding everyone and anyone. Except me. I keep tabs on him, every day worrying whether or not he'll be alright." Leon sounded tired, and for once Sora saw the circles under his eyes. The dark shadows of too many nights sat up worrying about him, wondering if Cloud would come home in one piece. 

"You care about him a lot, don't you, Leon?" Sora asked, sitting down in the second seat beside him. The boy was young, but not naive. He understood. He could see, somewhere deep behind the eyes of the man he'd always viewed as somewhat of a father figure, that these were matters that had taken their toll on him. His heart was straining under the weight of too many things, and if it could help, Sora would listen. 

"I do." Leon smiled tiredly, reaching over and ruffling the young boy's hair. "But that's something you'll understand when you're older."


	3. Proper Reunion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Taking place on the Gummi Ship, we learn a little bit more about our Lion and our Cloud.

Part of him wanted to avoid opening his eyes. He wanted to pretend that the movement, the slight lurching, was only his imagination. The Gummi ship was rocking his resting place, just small curves and turns making it hard for him to rest when he could still feel the faint stabbing pain in his head. His wounds seemed to have at least faded out into the background, and he became slightly aware of the fact that his head was the only thing that hurt anymore. 

His ears picked up the sound of people talking not far from him. An older man's voice, followed by the sound of a young boy's. They seemed to be talking about something important, judging by their tones. Struggling to make out the words, he listened in carefully. 

"You care about him a lot, don't you, Leon?" Slowly, Cloud shifted his position to sit up against the pillows behind him. It didn't hurt, really. It just felt odd, like his body was scolding him for moving during its repairs. The responding voice was nearly a whisper, but he caught it all the same. 

"I do." A pause. "But that's something you'll understand when you're older." The voice sounded much clearer at that second part, and before he could call out to anyone, the young boy scampered back to come check on him. At seeing he was awake, and moving as well, he looked rather guilty. 

"Oh... hi, Cloud," Sora mumbled, standing awkwardly a few feet away from the bed. The blonde man said nothing at first, shaking his head as he offered a hand to the young boy. Quietly, he mumbled a single word. 

"Truce?" The blonde looked at Sora quietly after that, watching the light in his eyes sparkle with awe. Ignoring the burning from the handshake, Cloud forced his way through it and offered a smile. No sense making the little guy more guilty, he thought. 

Sora smiled broadly, siting down nearby to talk to him quietly about the things that had transpired inside Olympus after he'd fallen into the blackness. So, not only had Sora beaten him, but also taken down Hades? He had to admit, this little adventurer was definitely breaking expectations. They went on like this for a while, Cloud dodging questions about the Darkness and Sora rambling about his adventures, until they felt the Gummi ship land and the engines stop roaring. That was when Leon walked in.   
He exchanged a silent glance with Cloud, saying nothing at first. His eyes then turned to Sora, who grinned happily and stood. 

"Well, about time I start off again! Other worlds need me, and I have to go find Donald and Goofy!" The boy's enthusiasm brought a tired smile to the tired man's face, and he stood aside as Sora stood and set off out of the ship. Whether or not he planned to remain in Traverse Town very long was unknown to both Leon and Cloud, but they knew well that he was more than capable. 

"How did you manage to come find me." Cloud was the first to speak up, his eyes focused on the bed in front of him. His voice was rough, faint now that he was faced by the other. Not that he would ever admit it to his face, but Cloud was always nervous around Leon. Something about him was just so very right, and yet so very unsettling to his senses. It was like he were on the verge of falling when he was around Leon, but not in the way most people think. It wasn't a fear. It was knowing that, should he get too close, he would plummet. Cloud hated that feeling, it left him scared and confused.

"You remember how Cid kept everyone plugged into the data feed of the Gummi ship? Distress signal came through, and I knew something was wrong before he told me." Leon murmured, walking over to the blonde and sitting down on the edge of the bed. He needed to make sure Cloud was okay, that he was going to be able to withstand what he'd gone through. Sitting down, he watched in silence as the older man attempted to curl away from him. Although it hurt, he understood. There was still a light kindling in his spirit, and Cloud was afraid of it. 

"Right. That... distress call program..." Cloud spoke lowly, averting his gaze. It wasn't until Leon's hand rested over his own that he faced him. Leon's tired eyes, slate blue and showing signs of being overworked, locked with Cloud's own. They sat there for a long moment, neither daring to move as they both caught up to speed with one another in that quiet moment. Not a word was spoken, at least until Cloud finally gave in and curled his calloused fingers around the brunette's hand. 

The air within the ship felt as tense as both men were. When Cloud finally held his hand, his fingers curled tightly around the cool leather of his gloves, Leon managed a smile. Silently, he stood and helped Cloud to his feet. Cloud didn't smile, only averted his eyes as he held onto the other man's hand tightly and leaned on him for support. Despite most of his injuries being bandaged well and cared for, he decided he may as well take advantage of Leon's generosity. 

"You're a bitch, you know that..?" Leon questioned, smiling tiredly as he helped Cloud out off the ship. The blonde rolled his eyes, weakly punching the brunette's side with his free hand. 

"Fuck you..." Cloud grumbled, his lips twitching up into the tiniest of grins. The joking continued, both men tired and exhausted as they made their way to the rather run-down hotel on the opposite side of Traverse Town.


	4. Rest and Security

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Resting is a nice thing to do.

As anyone who visited Traverse Town knew, it was a world that stayed in a perpetual state of nighttime. The lanterns and light posts around the town were the only source of light at all times, and they never went out. Naturally, every home had curtains and blinds as a result. The hotel was no exception. 

The room had only one bed, neatly put together and looking as if it had never been touched since it was last made. Everything in the room either looked in place, or severely out of place. The furniture was all neat, matching and very color coded. But the various stacks of papers, transport transcripts, records of the refugee's who came into Traverse Town, and notes of past travels littered the desk on the far side of the room. At least now Leon's lack of sleep made sense. 

"Have you slept at all since the last time I came to visit you all..?" Cloud mumbled, hobbling towards the bed with the brunette's help. Sitting down, he let out a groan as he sunk into the mattress. Leon shook his head slightly, tucking a pillow behind the recovering blonde's head as he made sure he was comfortable enough.

"Not very much, no... I've been busy." Leon sighed as he helped Cloud settle down, walking over to that desk and checking to see if Cid had dropped off any new information regarding signals picked up. Finding none, he sighed in relief and walked back over towards the bed. Sitting down on the edge of said bed, he looked to his companion who was staring quietly at the ceiling. 

He took the time to watch Cloud lay back and relax. The lamps within the room made him seem to glow, the light playing over golden hair like some kind of delicate dance. It even played across angled features, framing the curve of the blonde's jawline and creating gentle shadows across nearly perfect pale skin. Part of Leon wished, more than anything, to reach out one leather-covered hand to see just how soft that ivory skin was. Maybe even just caress his fingers across those thin, pale pink lips to watch the man tremble in the best of wa-- Leon tore his gaze away from the older man resting on the bed beside him, embarrassed over the thoughts that had developed within his mind. Soft blue eyes gazed up at the ceiling, seemingly unaware.

Clearing his throat, Leon took a moment to clear his head of those inappropriate thoughts. Cloud shifted to sit up against the pillows, curiously glancing at the man at the foot of the bed. 

"Are you just going to sit there, or are you going to lay down and get some rest...?" The blonde murmured, watching Leon as the man turned to look at him. For a moment, it looked as if he were going to say no, but then he sighed and nodded. 

"Yeah, move over so I can lay down." Leon offered a small smile, chuckling as Cloud slowly inched over to make enough room for the both of them to fit comfortably in this bed. Settling back down, the older man tugged the blankets up over him. As Leon stood up, he removed his jacket and hung it over the side of the nearest chair. His series of ridiculously unnecessary belts followed, and after kicking his shoes off, he climbed underneath the blankets to settle down next to his companion. 

As they lay there, nestled into bed, Cloud's mind began to wander to things he tended to avoid thinking about. Leon lay quietly beside him, his eyes closed as he seemed to drift off into the land of dreams rather quickly. This wasn't so easy for Cloud. 

Watching the brunette's breathing even out and slow to a peaceful pace, the blonde took the time to look over the man who had come rushing to his rescue. Soft brown hair framed his face perfectly, layered almost too perfectly to be real. It took all his willpower not to run his fingers through that beautiful mane and risk waking the sleeping lion. Although there was a very noticeable scar slashed across the bridge of his nose, something about his face just made Cloud's heart ache in the best of ways. From his peaceful expression to the faint smile that tugged at his lips as he dreamed, everything about him in that moment pulled at the blonde's heartstrings. 

It wasn't just the brunette's face, either. Everything about Leon had some kind of effect on Cloud. His looks, his personality, his kindness... Everything, no matter how small, seemed to just prickle the blonde's skin and send chills down his spine. Of course, he'd deny all that if he were ever confronted about it by anyone...

Eventually, after admiring Leon for the beautiful sight he was, Cloud finally sighed and settled down to get himself some rest. Closing his eyes, he tucked his head down against the pillow and gave sleep an honest shot for the first time in a while.


	5. Things Get Interesting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With a little motivation from ill-fitting clothes gives these two fuckers a bit more motivation.

Morning came slowly, and even then it wasn't technically morning. Morning in Traverse Town was only when people began to wake up, there being no bright sunshine to tell everyone what time of day it was. Hell, even the clocks got confused, sometimes. 

The first to wake was Cloud. Rubbing his eyes, he yawned tiredly as he looked around the dark room. It became obvious, after a few moments of trying to move, that something was holding him down. Looking down, he noticed arms wrapped firmly around his waist as if they were locked in place. Sighing, he began his feeble struggle to silently free himself without disturbing the sleeping lion next to him. 

"Cloud. Stop it. Go to bed." The man's voice was gruff and drowsy, his head likely buried in the pillows judging by how muffled it sounded. Part of the blonde didn't want to move. After all, being nestled so closely to this man who was so generously giving him warmth and unexpected affection was definitely a wonderful thing. He wanted to stay comfortably settled there, safe in the other man's strong arms. 

There was, however, the voice inside his head that told him he needed to move. He needed to leave or move to a different spot, because this man was a being from the Light and all the Light ever did was hurt. Leon was a man who could bask in both the brightest Light and the deepest Dark and never once flinch. He'd seen so much, but he'd still been able to find a home in the brilliance. He was a better man, a more important person, and in truth Cloud was scared. Scared of Leon, scared of the Light, and yet...

"It's two in the morning, Cloud..." Leon murmured, his eyes cracking open to look at the form he couldn't quite make out in the dark. He wasn't as gifted as Cloud was, unable to see every detail in even the darkest places. He, unlike Cloud, didn't have Mako-enhanced vision. For a moment, Leon was afraid Cloud would shrug him off. It was a surprise when Cloud instead shifted and settled back into his arms, sighing quietly. 

"You're right... I'll go back to sleep." Cloud mumbled, settling in quietly. Neither of them said a word until they had both laid there in silence, thinking quietly to themselves and attempting to seem like they were asleep. In truth, they both knew the other wasn't resting as they had agreed to. They were, however, taking comfort for the moment in each other's arms. This was something neither of them got to do very often, being far too proud to ever ask someone else for comfort when they needed it. So this was refreshing.

By the time they finally decided to move, Leon got up hesitantly. Cloud sat up and stretched tiredly, carefully placing a hand over where his injuries had mostly healed. Both were quiet for a long moment, Leon fetching fresh clothes to change into and tossing Cloud a spare shirt and some pants. Of course, it was a change from his usual attire, but it would have to do until he could fix the clothes that had been ruined at Olympus...

Setting off to the bathroom, Leon left Cloud be to change. The blonde fumbled with the awkward pants he'd been given, unsure how the seemingly random zippers and the odd three buckles on each pants leg functioned at all, but after a while managed to get them on securely. Standing quietly, he unfolded the shirt and went about tugging it over his head, the cotton oddly soft against his skin compared to the normal woolen shirts he wore. It settled slightly above the waist of the pants he'd been given, lifting slightly whenever the blonde moved to expose his pale waistline. He wasn't sure how he felt about that, but assuming that Leon's shirts all went by the same sizing, he'd have to manage.

By the time Leon exited the bathroom, fully dressed with all his belts and such in place, Cloud was fully ready and sitting on the edge of the bed as he tugged on his shoes. The blonde looked blissfully unaware of the brunette's staring eyes, and it took all Leon's willpower not to let his jaw drop. The clothing he'd given Cloud fit almost perfectly, with only minor issues that could be overlooked by anyone who wasn't paying attention. However, Leon's mind was a blur of thoughts, and none of them were appropriate for family settings. 

"Well, don't you look great in my clothes?" He finally managed to say, crossing his arms and smiling faintly as he watched Cloud shake his head and grin slightly. The blonde stood and gestured to the zippers running up the sides of those pants and the buckles that crossed over them. 

"I've begun to question how the Hell you function with your shitty 90's pants..." Cloud stated, earning a jokingly hurt expression from the brunette. Chuckling weakly, the blonde walked over and tilted his head. "And you seem to be much more comfortable with your style, that's all that matters..." Leon chuckled at this, reaching out a hand and ruffling the messy spikes atop Cloud's head. 

"Yeah, I suppose so. You do look good, though. Much... happier, than you looked the last time I saw you." Leon murmured, considering reaching a hand out to trace his fingers along the blonde's jawline. Thinking better of it, he stood like a statue and watching the other man ruffle at his hair.

"I guess... I feel lighter. I mean, I still feel... I still feel bad but, being back here... It feels like the air isn't as heavy and its easier to breathe..." Cloud said quietly, looking away as his friend nodded. The brunette actually did reach out a hand this time, gently tilting his head back to look at him, his hand lingering there for a moment. In those gentle slate eyes, the older man found something to hold onto to prevent tearing his gaze away.

"I can understand that... You remember why, right? This place balances both Light and Dark... That way your senses aren't overwhelmed." Leon explained, his gloved hand finally pulling away from the blonde's jawline as he nodded. Sighing, he started towards the door. "C'mon. Let's go see what we can help the others with... I'm sure they'd be glad to see you, too."

The two quietly left the room, shutting the door behind them before they started down the path that would wind and curve around buildings all the way to the First Sector. It was slow going, both men taking their time as they wanted to enjoy what time they did have alone. It wasn't that they didn't want to see the others, although that may hold some truth for Cloud. It was more that they wouldn't have any good chances to be alone together when they joined the group until they came back to the hotel for bed. They'd be busy working, locating stragglers, and warding off Heartless. 

Not to mention the fact that Leon was struggling to keep his eyes facing forward. The man beside him looked smug, a slight grin on his face for one reason or another. His hips swayed slightly as he walked, exposing that thin strip of skin above the waist of those tight pants he was borrowing. Whether it was intentional, Leon wasn't sure. Judging by that smug look on his friends face, however, he guessed it was. 

Cloud walked leisurely next to Leon, the both of them casting sidelong glances at each other until the brunette had gotten fed up. His mind had begun to wander to places that he'd be ashamed to admit in public places, all due to watching his companion walk beside him. Why his brain was creating these scenarios, he wasn't entirely sure.

What he did know was that his thoughts had wandered to images of Cloud, roughly pressed up against the wall with his hands pinned over his head. Those images briefly flashed to that same beautiful blonde being held against the wall, struggling to keep his voice down as Leon kissed and bit that beautiful pale skin at his neck until small purple spots were left wherever his mouth went. Thoughts of that tauntingly short shirt tugged up and exposing the older man's abdomen, open and inviting for the brunette to graze his hands over and explore freely. Those thin, dull pink lips crashed against Leon's, wondering just what Cloud kissed like as hands tangled in hair and tugged and pulled, never with the intent to hurt the other--...

Before he really noticed it, he'd actually stopped and somehow gotten Cloud pinned against the wall near the back of Cid's shop. Cloud was looking up at him in surprise, his hands pinned against the wall near his sides. Leon blinked in shock at his own sudden behavior, watching the blonde he'd slammed against the wall grin all smug like. 

"Well, someone seems excited..." Cloud murmured, keeping his voice down in case one of their friends was nearby. Even now, he still had that smug grin on his face. Leon growled lowly at that, moving his face within a hairs distance of that blonde man. A cool breeze blew through with the perfect timing, rustling Cloud's soft spikes and Leon's shaggy mane.   
"Get the grin off your face..." Leon said quietly, staring deep into those Mako infused eyes. He thought he saw the man tremble, a shiver running down his spine at the hot breath against his lips. The blonde man tilted his head slightly, brushing his lips against the brunette's daringly. 

"Or what?" Cloud growled, his eyes fluttering half closed as he gazed up at the taller man. Something in that seductive glance flipped a switch inside Leon's head, and a second later his lips came crashing down onto the blonde's. Neither one of them fought the other off, instead Cloud yanking his hands free of Leon's grasp and immediately wrapping his arms up around the brunette's neck. His fingers tangled up in that long mane of his, tugging at that soft brown hair as Leon's tongue explored his mouth.

It was rough, needy, and very sloppy. Regardless, neither one of them cared as Cloud pulled Leon's hair and pulled away for air, sucking in a breath before he latched his mouth against the brunette's neck. Something akin to a leech, he sucked at the delicate skin there, licking the shallow welts that rose in each little spot. 

Growling, Leon grabbed hold of the blonde's waist firmly and rutted his hips against him. Pushing the older man's shoulders back against the wall, he recaptured the blonde's lips in another fierce kiss. Tongues fought within wet, hot mouths as they both pulled at clothes, sliding hands up shirts and clawing nails down each others sides. Between these rough kisses, they panted for air as they forced themselves to be quiet, caring very little about the fact that the constant restraining thumped into the wall and echoed loudly enough for anyone inside to hear easily. 

Slate blue eyes ravaged over any bit of exposed skin they could find, Cloud's pale skin flushing pink as he suddenly felt too warm for even the cool breeze that resided within the boundaries of Traverse Town. Inside his chest, every touch cracked with the unholy desire that came with any contact between beings from the two realms known thus far. It felt oddly good, letting go and giving in to feral desires like this. Had it not been for the sudden voice breaking through their shared moment of heated rapture, things would have escalated much more quickly. 

"Leon! C'mon now, we need yer help." The familiar voice of a good friend named Cid broke through their moment of bliss, and Cloud couldn't help but snicker at the bright pink blush that rose to Leon's cheeks at the thought of them being caught at their ages. As Leon fixed their clothes so they looked at least half as rumpled, he tried to move away. Tilting his head when he was caught by the belts, he looked back at the blonde man who had a seductive little glare set in his eyes. 

"Oh, Hell no. You get back here and finish what you started, Mr. Lionhart." Maybe Cid's request for help could wait a little longer...

**Author's Note:**

> A few chapters I will be uploading over time. Purely to stay active, as I am not in the best place at the moment to be writing regularly as school work has begun to pile up and thus takes away any time that I have had over the summer to write. I do apologize for anyone awaiting the next chapter of Recovery, as it seems that I will not be updating that for a long time. My deepest apologies to all of you waiting for that.


End file.
